


The X-Files, Season 2, Episode 4, Sleepless

by TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Analysis, Episode Review, Episode: s02e04 Sleepless, Meta, Nonfiction, Season/Series 02, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:20:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23621458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer/pseuds/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer
Summary: Warning: Contains spoilers for the episode and the rest of the series. Complete.
Kudos: 2





	The X-Files, Season 2, Episode 4, Sleepless

Open to New York City at 11:23 p.m.

In an apartment, a man who isn’t Mulder lies on the couch watching an infomercial.

There’s a significant amount of art in the apartment. This never becomes important during the episode, but I find it an interesting piece of characterisation.

Noticing smoke coming in from underneath his door, he opens it to see a blazing fire. Then, he calls 911.

Public safety advisement: If there’s a fire, unless a person absolutely can’t, a person should get out, and then, call emergency services.

Instead of actually listening to the 911 operator give him what could be life-saving advice, he grabs a fire extinguisher to try to battle the fire himself. The fact it’s revealed he’s a doctor makes things worse. Assuming he’s an M.D., the fact he can’t keep calm under a stressful situation and may not know the proper procedure for dealing with a fire is not comforting.

Meanwhile, firefighters storm in the building, and I appreciate the touch of the other tenants being evacuated. One of the supposed tenants stops, and a firefighter urges him to continue moving. There’s a scar on the back of the supposed tenant’s neck, and he smiles creepily.

Upstairs, showing whoever wrote this does know how fires are supposed to be dealt with, the firefighters follow procedure before finally bursting into the apartment to find the man dead with the spent fire extinguisher near him.

After the credits, Mulder is at his own apartment in not-New York.

Why do I continue to think most American shows are set in New York?

Getting the newspaper, he sees someone has circled the story of the doctor’s mysterious death. It’s revealed he specialised in sleep disorders. Someone also left a tape rolled up in the newspaper, and it contains the 911 call.

There’s a transition to Skinner's office where he and Mulder are listening to it. Mulder tries to convince Skinner to help him based on the doctor having several government contracts, but Skinner knows the real reason Mulder wants the case. He asks where he got the tape, and Mulder non-answers that his most trusted source is dead.

Promising to look into the case further, Skinner sends Mulder to go transcribe wire-taps.

In the bullpen, Mulder is doing so when Alex Krycek, played by chameleon actor Nicholas Lea, makes his first appearance. He’s vaguely puppyish in introducing himself as he explains he opened the case of the dead doctor. Mulder tries to take it from him, and showing some teeth, he makes it clear he’s more-than-willing to work with Mulder, but the case is rightfully his and won’t be taken away.

Supposedly agreeing, Mulder directs him to go requisition a car. Alex is suspicious, but giving the impression of being impressed by his teeth, Mulder promises they can totally be best partners and maybe even make it permanent if Alex does a good job.

Once Alex bounces off, there’s a transition to Quantico. Scully is giving a lecture over a dead body, and someone interrupts to tell her she has a phone call.

Despite the pseudonym Mulder gave, Scully immediately knows it’s him. He fills her in about the case, and they make plans to meet up later.

At a sleep disorder clinic, Mulder talks to a woman about the doctor. He was a genius, and aside from the occasional bouts of his own insomnia and the fact his patients might have been screwed if there was ever a fire at the clinic, he had no mental or emotional problems, and his personal life was fine.

She also discusses one of the patients at the clinic, because, I guess sleep clinics aren’t bound to rules of patient-confidentially. There’s some science-y talk, and she says it’s theoretically possible to alter another person’s dreams.

Obviously, there are people, governments, and other organisations that would horribly abuse such an ability, but my first reaction to hearing this was to think of children who have terrible nightmares. If a parent could give them pleasant dreams, many would. In fact, many try to do so by doing such things as utilising nightlights, stuffed toys, calming music, etc. Another thought is creative people, with consent, giving their loved ones really awesome, exciting dreams.

Outside, Alex jumps out of a nearby car. “I paid off your cab.” Instead of demanding reimbursement, he continues, “You know, I don’t appreciate being ditched like someone’s bad date.”

“Sorry if I hurt your feelings,” is Mulder’s unapologetic response.

Alex is somewhat emotional in his own reply, “Where do you get off copping this attitude? I mean- you don’t even know the first thing about me.”

“Exactly,” Mulder pointedly says.

“You know, back in the academy- some of the guys used to make fun of you.”

“Oh, stop it. You’re gonna hurt my feelings.”

“Some of us followed your work. Believed what you were doing, because, we knew there was more out there than they were telling us.”

Before Mulder can respond, he gets a call from Scully. The doctor didn’t die of a heart attack, and Mulder needs to come back to Quantico. Agreeing, he’s clearly intent on stranding Alex, but he finds the door to the car locked. Holding up the keys, Alex sassily inquires, “Where we going?” Heh.

At Quantico, Alex is vaguely puppyish towards Scully, and she’s rather rude to him. He reacts uneasily to the dead body, and Scully and Mulder give one another exasperated looks. She reveals the doctor’s body reacted as if it believed he were on fire.

In Brooklyn, a man with scar on the back of his neck tiredly watches an infomercial from his couch. The man from the doctor’s apartment appears. His name is Preacher, and quoting what sounds like Bible verses, he makes armed men appear. They shoot the man.

Later, Alex and Mulder are talking about this case. It turns out Alex supposedly has a friend from homicide who called. He might actually have this friend, but given what’s later revealed, this might just be a lie he told Mulder.

Mulder notices the scar, and Krycek says the man’s records show he only ever had an appendectomy. Then, bringing up the man being a former Marine in Vietnam, he suggests such thorough records weren’t kept during his tour. Mulder discovers the doctor and the man were stationed together.

At the FBI library, they discover there’s one survivor they need to talk to.

In a VA hospital, it’s discovered the patient they want to talk to has been released. Only, his doctor swears he didn’t and wouldn’t release the patient, never mind his signature on the forms and the witness who says he specifically handed them to her. The picture of the patient shows Preacher.

Next, Mulder gets a phone call from X. He tells Mulder to come to a certain place alone. However, he doesn’t actually name a place or give a time.

Nevertheless, Mulder goes somewhere alone, and appearing, X refuses to answer whom he is before making it clear he doesn’t actually want to help Mulder. However, this won’t stop him from doing so, and he hands Mulder a file on a top-secret government experiment involving sleep and Preacher’s unit. The doctor from the teaser made it where none of the soldiers could sleep, and this made them fearless, aggressive, and efficient.

X gives him the name of another survivor. He starts to walk away, and Mulder asks how to contact him. X makes it clear he’s not Mulder’s friend the way Deep Throat was. He says the truth is still out there, but the pursuit of it is even more dangerous for everyone involved.

The camera pans out after they both leave, thus, potentially implying an unseen person has witnessed the meeting.

Later, Mulder pulls up to the hotel he and Alex are staying at. He quickly hides the file under his seat. Maybe, he should have hidden it before he got near the hotel.

This has nothing to do with the episode, but I wonder if Mulder and Alex have a single room with double beds. I’m not a Mulder/Scully shipper, but or maybe, because, I actually think they would do the double bed thing if not for the fact it’d cause a lot of attention and questions. However, I doubt two heterosexual-presenting male agents sharing a room would cause anyone to look twice, especially if a single, double-bed room is cheaper than two rooms.

Hopping in the car, Alex asks where Mulder was, but not waiting for an answer, Alex continues that someone matching Preacher’s description just robbed a drugstore.

They get to a hotel/apartment complex where local police and S.W.A.T are waiting for them. There’s a gunshot, and they run upstairs. There’s a sound of a baby crying, and Alex orders a tenant starting to come into the hallway to go back in.

I appreciate these details.

In the apartment, they find two officers bleeding, and Mulder looks out the small, high-up window. The camera reveals Preacher did somehow use it and is currently out of Mulder’s sight. Coming over, Alex demands to know what’s going on. He exposits the two officers shot one another.

In the next scene, Scully is typing about the report.

I find it funny the folder literally has Top Secret in big letters on top of it. Maybe some organisations and agencies actually do label such files this way, but it seems to me a better idea would be to keep them in a simple, nondescript folder with a certain colour sticker or some other innocuous marking on them. This way, the people who have clearance know what’s important and what’s not, and someone who doesn’t have clearance might overlook the folder.

Calling, Mulder suggests Preacher is using a form of telepathy. They make plans to meet later, and he gets ready to go with Alex. Scully comes across as OOC in her jealousy.

I do think it’s realistic she’d be upset about their separation and uneasy about Mulder being given a new partner, but unless there was something clearly propelling her, I don’t think she’d react with the jealously she’s exhibiting.

One potentially interesting storyline could have been Scully being contacted by someone like X and warned about Mulder being manipulated. Then, suddenly, it seems as if Mulder never contacts her, never has time when she contacts him, and seems to be bonding rather quickly with a new partner she knows nothing about.

This would provide an in-character reason for this behaviour.

The audience wouldn’t know if there was actually something wrong or not, and both it and she would have to try to figure out if she’s overreacting. She’s hurt, jealous, and confused, but she also remembers how quickly she and Mulder bonded. Who’s to say it didn’t just happen again? But then, what if there is something more sinister involved? She’d have a duty to try to extract him from the danger and try to find out what’s truly going on.

Back to Alex and Mulder, they go up to a diner where one of the survivor workers. When Mulder starts to withdraw his badge, the man makes clear his fear of being shot. They get him to sit down, and smoking, he explains what happened. Eventually, the lack of sleep caused everyone to go AWOL. They went on several massacres wherein innocent civilians, including women and children, were killed. Even when he was participating, Preacher talked about how wrong it was and how they’d all pay one day.

It’s also revealed there’s another doctor who helped with the procedure.

Later, Alex and Mulder are on a crowed expressway. It’s exposited the anniversary of the massacres is approaching. Scully calls to tell Mulder the other doctor is coming in for one of the men's funeral. He gets her to send a picture to the train station.

This would be so much easier if the phone he’s using could receive emails/texts, and thus, pictures. Then again, given his relationship with his smartphone in the revival miniseries, maybe not.

At the station, after getting the picture, they split up, and it’s shown Preacher is nearby.

Preacher plays some mind-whammy games on Mulder, and Mulder ends up drawing his weapon in public, and then, falling to the ground. Alex rushes over, but instead of patting Mulder down for injuries, he just turns him over to ask if he’s okay.

On The West Wing, when Jed wasn’t patted down after the assassination attempt at the end of the first season and the beginning of the second, I gave some leeway. He was conscious, wasn’t visibly showing any signs of being hit, and the agent protecting him having a broken hand could somewhat mentally frazzle even the best of the best.

Here, though, unless Alex wants Mulder dead, and I don’t think he does at this point, this is just stupid. His partner draws his gun, yells about someone having a weapon, and then, hits the floor. He’s lying unconscious. I’d think he’d be patting Mulder down while trying to get someone to call 911.

Mulder jumps back into consciousness. He tries to rush off, but physically restraining him, Alex insists the other doctor isn’t here. His tone also implies they should maybe do some damage control for the fact an agent wildly waved his gun around in public, but Mulder brushes him off.

Awesomely, one of the extras is a girl in a wheelchair.

Mulder instructs transit security on how to comb through security camera footage.

Pulling him aside, Alex insists he explain what exactly happened. “We both know I’m covering for you by keeping it between us.”

“Alright, what do you want to know?”

“Just the truth.”

Mulder points out his ideas usually aren’t very popular.

“I told you, I want to believe, but I need a place to start.”

Explaining about Preacher using telepathy, Mulder challengingly inquires, “How’s that for a theory?”

Alex is quiet for a moment. “It’s a whole new spin on virtual reality, but- at least, it begins to explain some things.”

Mulder can’t help but stare.

The moment’s interrupted by one of the officers. Someone manipulated the cameras, and during the missing time, a car appeared. Getting the location, Mulder leaves.

Meanwhile, Preacher has the doctor chained up. The doctor insists they were both just following orders.

Fictional characters need to learn to stop uttering this defence. It only makes their victim turned attacker angrier.

Preacher makes men appear, and he crosses himself before handing out what I think are old-fashioned razor blades.

Alex and Mulder appear, and they find the doctor still alive but bleeding heavily. Mulder instructs Alex to apply pressure and call for backup, and he yells when Alex hesitates. Once Alex complies, Mulder goes to try to find Preacher.

He finds him standing over a ledge. Using Preacher’s military rank, he asks him to step away. Turning, Preacher directs Mulder to shoot him.

In response, Mulder puts down his gun.

I really don’t think FBI agents are supposed to do this.

Don’t mistake me. I definitely do not want a white, able-bodied government official to shoot a black, mentally ill civilian, but there should be established training to diffuse situations such as these without relinquishing the agent’s weapon.

Granted, there might be said training, and Mulder being Mulder just decided he’d do things his own way and screw the potential consequences.

Mulder goes on to say, if Preacher talks to him for a minute, he’ll let Preacher go to do whatever Preacher wants.

Preacher is currently a murder suspect. Even if his crimes can never be proven, I don’t think letting him go without an interrogation or something would fly.

Mulder says what the military did was wrong but that Preacher can help by testifying against them.

Alex appears with his gun drawn, and Mulder tries to get him to leave. However, Preacher’s shown pointing a gun, and it’s clear this is Alex’s POV as Mulder sees Preacher holding out his Bible and realises what Alex must be seeing. He tries to stop him, but Alex shoots.

Interestingly, it isn’t clear if Alex truly believed Mulder was in danger or not. He undeniably saw the gun, but he might have known there was no gun and simply used this as an excuse. ‘I saw a gun,’ is true, but if there’s an unsaid, ‘but I knew what he was capable of and was aware there really wasn’t one,’ it makes the whole situation trickier.

The two run to Preacher, and as Alex frantically searches for the gun, Mulder holds Preacher. Preacher’s last words are, “Goodnight.”

Alex emotionally insists Preacher had a gun and was going to shoot Mulder, and Mulder’s reaction is ambiguous. Nodding, he somewhat woodenly assures Alex he did the right thing.

The camera moves away from their faces, and it’s shown Alex’s hand is shaking.

Later, Mulder finds the file missing from his car.

He meets Scully, and it’s revealed someone broke into her office and her computer.

It seems the government would, at least, make a show of treating someone breaking into a supposedly secure government building and stealing things from a federal agent a tad bit more seriously. Government conspiracy or not, I’d imagine there are many government employees who aren’t a part of it, and whatever they may think of Mulder and Scully, there’s evidence someone did target one of them and break some pretty big laws in the process.

Mulder tells her about X.

Meanwhile, in a dark, dimly lit room, CSM and two men sit together. CMS asks about the file, and Krycek’s voice explains either Mulder found a new source, or a new source found him.Stepping into the light at the end of the table, he says he took the liberty of underlining some countermeasures.

CSM asks about Scully, and Krycek characterises her as a bigger problem than originally thought.

“Every problem has a solution,” is CSM’s response.

I found Krycek to be an awesome addition to the series and was really hoping he’d show up in the revival. In the end, it’s never clear who he’s loyal to, how truly deeply he’s involved in the world of secrecy, or even if things are going his way or not. All the audience can do is guess. Personally, I have my own ideas about him, but there just as valid and invalid as everyone else’s.

Fin.


End file.
